His Heart
by sunshinekisses
Summary: You stole something very important to me..."


Disclaimer: I do not own Gauken Alice…but a girl can dream!

His Heart

A boy and a girl are sitting inside an abandoned shack.

"This is funny," the girl, says to no one in particular, "Have I been kidnapped?"

From the corner, the boy barely lifts his head. He's sitting in a slack position against the wooden boards, fingers curled around what could only be described as an overvalued fruit knife. He tilts his face just enough to gaze across at the girl through a mop of messy black hair.

"Awake already?"

The girl stares dizzily into the surrounding darkness. Her eyes grow huge and unusually attentive beneath the limited light.

"I'm a bright sleeper, I think." The girl began, a little bit confused, "No wait—I mean light sleeper," she turns to look at the boy.

"What about you? Oh wait, I shouldn't be frat-nerd-icing with the enemy."

"You mean fraternizing," he says, shaking his head.

The girl blinks. "Isn't that what I said?" The boy lets out a big sigh.

"Say," the girl asks curiously, "why am I tied up?"

"Why do you think?" the boy answers some what annoyed. Could girls really be this clueless?

"Did you do this? Because you did a pretty crappy job, you know. You're supposed to triple-knot it, to tie in the bad luck. Oops, shouldn't have said that."

"You really haven't changed at all." The boy sounds like he's smiling, but he's not. It was a matter of fact he did not smile—ever. You were more likely to find a pigeon with a human head.

"How would—hey! Do I know you?"

The lack of light works to the boy's advantage. The girl tries to picture how or when she might have bumped into—and possibly offended—this dirty-haired boy.

"Can you come closer? I can't really see your face." The girl asked

The boy isn't looking at her anymore. If she didn't know better, the girl would guess that he'd fallen asleep. There's an odd familiarity to the characteristic slope of his shoulders from underneath his shirt. The girl has a strange urge to reach out and brush his bangs from his eyes.

"Are you ignoring me?" She asks him.

He moves over slightly until he is no longer facing her.

Now the girl is annoyed. She gives up—for the time being—when he doesn't respond.

The girl squints at the small slits of sunlight leaking through the cracks between the woods. She knows she should be wondering where the hell she is. Instead, she finds herself thinking about termites.

"What are you thinking right now?" She asks him, after the silence becomes too heavy for her liking.

"I should be asking you."

"I'm thinking about termites… and food. Do you have food?"

"No, unless you want to eat rat poison?"

"Shoot…. What does it taste like?"

"Like poop," The boy responds, trying to avoid conversation.

"You've tasted poop before?" the girl continues

The boy makes an annoyed grunt. The girl doesn't seem to care.

"Does rat poison come in different flavors?"

"Only two."

"Really?" the girl asks excitedly.

"Garbage and sewage. Your pick." The girl starts to pout.

"They should make it cheese-flavored. If I were a rat, I would like to die eating cheese." There is vulnerability in her voice that makes the boy feel a little prick in his chest.

"Well," he says, "I'd prefer it to sewage."

They sit in silence for a moment, because the girl finds herself with another desire to run her fingers down his cheek.

When she speaks again, he has to strain to hear her. "Did we used to be close before?"

The boy looks at her some how surprised.

"Because I feel like I know you really well. It's at the tip of my tongue. I just can't remember… I was in a car accident, you know. It was a couple years ago. I lost part of my memory." The girl stops for a minute. She looks up at the boy and fakes a smile.

"Should I be telling you this? Probably not…"

The boy leans towards her and the girl is finally able to see him clearly. He looks about her age but there is something about his face that makes him looks much older, as if he has been through things others can only imagine. But what mesmerizes the girl the most is his crimson eyes that seem to look right into her soul.

"Why did you kidnap me?" the girl asks softly, not daring to look away. Her face is no longer cheerful but dead serious. The boy averts her questioning gaze and looks down at the knife.

"You stole something from me," the boy says, still looking at the knife, "something very important."

The girl is now confused. She looks at the boy sincerely.

"I don't remember stealing anything; maybe it was before the accident?"

"I think it was." He answers.

"Well," the girl responds thoughtfully, "just tell me what it is and I'll return it!"

"You can't return it," the boy says in a low voice. The girl could sense sadness in it. The boy looks up at her to find that she is crying.

"I would give what ever I took back if I could," the girl says softly, "I'm sorry—"

Before she can continue the boy leans closer and kisses her lips lightly. He wraps his arms around her.

"It's okay," he whispers in her ear, "I'm just glad it was you…and not someone else."

The girl doesn't pull away. Not because she can't but because she doesn't want to. She feels so comfortable and safe in the boys' arms. The girl looks up at his face and smiles sweetly.

"I think I used to love you," she says quietly. The boy rests his chin on her soft brown hair.

"You know what," the girl continues, "I have a feeling I still do." She drifts away into sleep.

The boy let's those last words sink in. For the first time in his life he smiles.

When the girl wakes, the boy is gone. The fruit knife is still there, lying by her side. The rope is loose. If she didn't know better, the girl would think it was an accident. Instead, her mind is blank.

There is a note crumpled in her hands:

_I don't hate you…_

_Take care of my heart._

The girl folds the note and smiles as tears stream down her face.

"So that's what I stole…his heart."


End file.
